early Friday morning a barrage of Tomahawk cruise missiles on
Benghazi, Tripoli, and Cairo. The two warships were already deployed
in the region at the time of the US Benghazi consulate attack Tuesday
for a naval exercise dubbed "Restore Faith in American
Exceptionalism." One aircraft carrier and 4 destroyers left Norfolk
early yesterday and are headed to the region. Photo by Communication
Specialist 2nd Class Daniel Barker/ US Navy/AP.
***
The Associated Press
Saturday, Sep 14, 2012 (3:30 p.m.)
President Mitt Romney ordered Friday strikes on Benghazi, Tripoli, and
Cairo in the wake of the killing of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens
and three other embassy personnel this week.
But The Associated Press correspondent in Benghazi saw scores of
civilian casualties, including women and children, at the city's main
hospital in the wake of the first wave of the combined air raids and
tomahawk cruise missile strikes.
In Tripoli, the tomahawks leveled Liberty Square, shortly after 50
marines of the Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST) had extracted
all US embassy personnel Friday at mid-morning.
In Cairo, the presidential palace has been razed to the ground and
Tahrir Square is a smoldering lunar landscape.
Secretary of State Michael Bolton told CNN yesterday:
"This is a wake-up call to the Islamist world. They've got to realize
that the time when America used to apologize for our way of life has
come and gone! Attacks on American interests abroad will no longer
stand!"
Sources at the State Department tell The Associated Press that
Secretary Bolton is pressuring Google to "unblock" access to the Islam
bashing video in Egypt and Libya.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not
permitted to share information with the media, add that Secretary
Bolton feels that American values of free speech are "non-negotiable,"
echoing President Romney.
To just make that point crystal clear, President Romney publicly
rebuked on Fox News Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey
for calling Florida pastor Terry Jones (who infamously burned copies
of the Quran in April), asking him not to promote the anti-Islam
YouTube video at the heart of protests.
To further drive that point home, the White House announced this
morning that President Romney will be hosting this weekend at Camp
David Sam Bacile, writer and director of the offending low-budget
movie, its promoters and producers, as well as pastor Terry Jones.
Romney's National Security Advisor Lanhee Chen told The New York Times
this morning:
"We've had this consistent critique and narrative on Obama's foreign
policy, and we felt this was a situation that met our critique, that
Obama really has been pretty weak in a number of ways on foreign
policy, especially if you look at his dealings with the Arab Spring
and its aftermath. Now is the time, as the president said, to tell the
Islamists that our values are not negotiable."
At a press briefieng at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Dan Senor
revealed that a no-fly zone has been established over Libya, Egypt,
and Yemen as drones are gathering intelligence on the targets in the
next wave of bombings.
Defense Secretary Senor also warned that if Yemen fails to rein in
Islamist demonstrators at the US embassy, Sanaa will be added to the
list of targets.
The whereabouts of Libyan President Mohammed Maqrif are unknown.
He's presumed to have gone into hiding shortly after President Romney,
who took his call in the Oval Office on speaker phone in the presence
of Fox News Sean Hannity, testily told him:
"We are gonna bomb your country back to the Middle Ages where you
Islamists belong!"
The Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is stuck in Brussels, where he
was holding talks with the European Commission.
President Romney is vowing to bring both presidents to justice.
Rep. Tom King (R/New York), chairman of the House Anti-Shariah
Activities Subcomittee, told the New York Daily News he won't leave a
stone unturned until he uncovers the help extended to Libyan
extremists by all Islamist Brotherhood anti-American and pro-Sharia
activits embedded in mosques all across the nation.
___
Michael Shields reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Caleb
Cohen in Washington, Asha Makt in Tripoli, Joseph Russel in Benghazi,
Tony Ashton in Sanaa, and Daniel Moore in Jerusalem contributed to
this report.
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